Tiny Okla. town tries to rid water supply of worms

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Residents of an Oklahoma town are being asked to avoid drinking tap water until the local utility is sure that it has gotten rid of tiny red worms that wriggled into the water system.

Worms ranging from a half-inch to an inch long showed up this week in the water supply in Colcord, a small town near the Arkansas border about 80 miles east of Tulsa. Taking showers with the invertebrates is apparently OK.

City councilman Terry Wood said city water was turned back on Wednesday morning after workers cleaned, drained and re-cleaned the water tower. No worms were found in the tower, he said.

"We are still looking into this problem. I mean we need to get to the bottom of it and we will continue to investigate and do pretty much what we need to do to find out what happened here," Wood said.

Residents are being asked not to consume the water or use it to brush teeth or prepare food, Wood said, but it can be used for showers and other activities.

Erin Hatfield, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, said it's uncommon for red worms to show up in a water system in the state, though it's fairly common in the southeastern United States.

She's not sure why or how the worms wriggle into water systems.

There are no adverse health effects with the red worms, she said, and the DEQ provided Colcord officials with recommendations for their water system to prevent future red worm infestations.

Red worms are considered a nuisance organism but not a health risk, said Alan Roberson, director of federal relations for the American Water Works Association. But, he noted, the idea of drinking water with worms in it certainly isn't appealing.

Several businesses and organizations, including Walmart and the Cherokee Nation, have donated bottled water for residents in the 815-person town to use, Wood said.

"We've had situations before where we've been out of water," he said. "We've just had to use bottle water for consumption, so I don't guess it's been comfortable for some people but the last few hours haven't been that bad."

Colcord Public Schools canceled classes Wednesday, but Superintendent J.D. Parkerson said teachers and students are eager to return to classes Thursday, though no official decision has been made.

Health officials have provided guidelines to school administrators to make sure the schools are safe for the approximately 650 students.

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Follow Kristi Eaton on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kristieaton .

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Worms: A Zimbabwe snacks, from tree to table

MULUZI, Zimbabwe (AP) — In Zimbabwe, as well as most of southern Africa, mopane worms are a staple part of the diet in rural areas and are considered a delicacy in the town. Can be eaten dried, as crisp as French fries, or baked and drenched in sauce. I decided to document the collection, preparation, sale and consumption of worms and found the preparation a little stomach-turning. But the worms can be mighty tasty and are very nutritious. Here is everything you ever wanted to know about mopane worms but were afraid to ask.

THE MOPANE WORM

The worm is the large Caterpillar of Gonimbrasia Belina, belina species commonly called the Emperor moth. It is known as a mopane worm because it found chomping the leaves of mopane trees after it opens in the summer. It also has cut the way literature, finding its way, for example, in the pages of Alexander McCall Smith's series about the No. 1 Ladies ' Detective Agency, set in Botswana. At least one of the characters chew dried mopane worms up.

THE HARVEST

After six weeks of rain, the mopane worms can be seen clinging to and nourishes, mopane trees leaves in rural Muluzi, an arid area cattle ranching in southern Zimbabwe. Amanda Ncube normally retrieves the firewood to sell and look after the family's livestock, but when is harvest season worm joins other women and few men collecting the worms, which are often as a cigar and as long as the width of the two hands. She slowly plucks them from the lower branches before boarding while the tree to shake off those superiors. The most stubborn ones who cling to leaves and branches are loose curiosati with a long stick. The worms excrete a brown liquid once they make contact with a human hand, leaving your hands wet and slippery collectors. As they collected the maggots, women and men move from one tree to another until they are dry. A thick green slimy fluid comes out as Ncube carefully squeezes out the entrails from a mopane worm that she has just plucked from a tree. While some worms are prepared on site, other forage harvesters wait until they are back at home where they squeeze the innards of worms before you let them dry for a few days in the warm African sun. During the harvest season, the arcades of the houses with mud walls are covered with thousands of maggots, laid out to dry.

THE MARKET

At the local market, mopane worms are very popular with the residents who buy a cup or two of them and eat them immediately. The market is abuzz with activity, with most strategically stalls showing the delicacy so people can't miss. Vendors offer free samples. Mopani worms are classified according to the size and the area where they were gathered. Picky buyers ask their provenance before purchase, favoring worms from the District of one over the other because, for connoisseurs, maggots from a flavour area other than those from another.

HIGH PROTEIN

The mopane worm is a source of healthy nutrition and cheap.

A nutritionist of Zimbabwe, Marlon Chidemo, says that the worms are at high contents of healthy nutrients and contain three times the amount of protein as beef. He says eating maggots is less taxing on the environment compared to eat beef because it takes less leaves to produce maggots that feed on to produce the same amount of beef.

ROTTEN BUSINESS

Dried mopane worms have become a multimillion dollar industry, also exported to countries like South Africa and Botswana. Can be found in African restaurants in Paris.

PREPARATION

Once you have been dried, can be consumed immediately. Can also be cooked in a spicy sauce or peanut butter and served with pap, a polenta.

Having not grown up eating the mopane worms, I never had the opportunity to see how they collected and prepare them until now. While the process is pretty disgusting, the worm can be a pleasure to eat as an appetizer or side dish. Remember the taste salty fries. Former President Hastings Kamuzu Banda of Malawi's own favorite like that, simply dried and then eaten as snacks like potato chips. The gang has been known to carry around pocketsful of worms that he also offered to children.

A RECIPE

Here's a recipe corresponding special Africa Congolese who AP Michelle Faul describes as "one of the most tasty" to mopane worms.

Mopani worms for four people.

Ingredients: dried mopane worms 500 grams; three tomatoes, diced or 1 can of tomatoes; 2 onions, cut into cubes; 1/2 teaspoon turmeric. 3 fresh green chillies, finely chopped; three cloves of garlic, finely chopped; tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped. Soak dried worms in the water for 3-4 hours to replenish. Saute the onions in peanut oil over medium heat until translucent. Add the turmeric, chilli, garlic and ginger. FRY for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook on low for about 20 minutes until the spices are well mixed. Add drained worms and cook until they have softened a bit, but I'm still a bit crunchy. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with pap, called ugali in Zimbabwe. Enjoy.

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